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Friday, July 6, 2012

Sepia Saturday: What's in your trunk?

Sepia Saturday challenges
bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt
features an elephant. At first I thought
I’d have to go off-theme, but then ta-da! I remembered seeing this picture:

Velma in India 1959

That is my great-aunt Velma Davis Woodring (wearing dark
socks) sitting in the middle of the howdah on the second elephant. She had traveled to India with fellow
teachers in 1959. As a teacher and
principal in the American military base school in Korea, she was allowed quite
a bit of free travel, and she took advantage of that privilege with trips
throughout Korea, Japan, Thailand, India, and maybe other places I don’t know
about.

As a child, I looked forward to Velma’s visits with her
stories of exotic places. The fact that
she always brought gifts was a bonus.

Velma's trunk now belongs to my younger daughter.

Did
you know an elephant trunk can lift 660 pounds and carry as much as 1100
pounds? Velma could have used an
elephant to help carry all those souvenirs from her travels. However, she did have her limitations and so
selected a steamer trunk instead.

Velma brought us some beautiful art work. Some of it was on silk and some on
paper. She brought several gorgeous
screens that were decorated on both sides.

When you hold the rice dish up to the light, you can see
right through it.

Velma brought us kimonos, dolls, brass hibachi, brassware, and jewelry. A visit from Velma promised to be more fantastic than a subscription to National Geographic. She brought us the world.

Besides having such beautiful gifts to admire, my sister
and I for YEARS had unique Halloween costumes and something to wear for any
international theme day during Spirit Week at school; we had objects for
geography displays (ensuring good grades, don’tchaknow). Never for a minute did we doubt we were the
luckiest people on earth.

So it came as bit of a shock upon dividing up my parents’
THINGS that my daughters and my sister’s sons announced they didn’t want “any
of that Asian crap.”

Asian Crap!?!?

How can they say that?
Who else has kimonos and dolls and artwork from the other side of the
world?

It’s taken awhile to get over their lack of
appreciation. But I’ve given it a lot of
thought and I’ve come to these conclusions:

1.Asian
is not their taste. Come to think of it,
it’s not particularly my taste either. These things are more than house décor – they’re memories. But they're not their memories.

2.They
didn’t know Velma. I myself was just a
teenager when she died.

To my sister’s and my children, Velma is merely a name in
the family tree, not a real person who showered her family with souvenirs of her adventures and rode an elephant.

36 comments:

It's a shame when others don't appreciate the history these 'artefacts' can bring but perhaps they are not old enough yet. More importantly maybe they will keep some treasured things to remind them of you!!

A superb post Wendy. God Bless Aunt Velma I say, if not for all the lovely presents she bought, then for providing you with a sepia picture that’s bang on theme. I think you are right about the sentimental value of Velma’s gifts. We get so excited with our discoveries about personal histories we sometimes can’t understand why our own offspring don’t share our enthusiasm. Let’s hope they will come to appreciate them in the future, and if not, never mind, you’re doing your bit by posting about them here. It’s what Sepia Saturday is all about.

What a great post. Love it that you managed to find the photo of Aunt Velma. It's the absolute perfect photo for this week's post. And the story of all the things she brought back. How exciting for you as a child. As to your children's lack of enthusiasm - that's just so typical. My daughter could care less about my collection of antique children's books, old quilts, vintage game boxes. I'm sure they'll all end up on Ebay someday!Nancy

Oh I know! When my sister and I were cleaning out our parents' house, we were totally puzzled by one item after another. What is it? Why do we have it? Should we keep it? Now we're compiling an heirloom booklet with pictures and explanations of all our "Asian crap" and "American crap" so our kids will be able to figure out if something is worth keeping.

Between Velma and my 5th grade teacher who traveled throughout Europe and brought all the girls a pin cushion from Switzerland, I dreamed of traveling but always thought that was for OTHER people. I finally got to Italy about 8 years ago. That's been my only BIG trip.

An Aunt like Velma must have been inspiring. It's interesting to see that as we get older my daughter is already 'eyeing' some of our things that see must have when we have passed on. The boys on the other had do not appear at all concerned.

This is such a great post Wendy! Your great-aunt Velma sounds like a fascinating lady. Through her travels and stories she was able to "open doors you never even knew existed." (Auntie Mame reference...one of my favorite movies)

Wendy that was a marvelous story. What little traveling I have done to other countries I always bring back fabrics and other cultural things. I have only been to countries in Central and South America but have some wonderful keepsakes. My grands have already asked for their favorites.QMM

Velma sounds like a kind of Auntie Mame and so thoughtful and generous. And that trunk...back when traveling was such a different experience! Your daughter was smart to assume possession of such a treasure chest.

I'm the opposite when it comes to family treasures: I hold on to everything. I have my grandma's dresser and vanity, which had been passed down to my mom before they came to me, and even though my mom keeps telling me to get rid of them because I don't have room, I just can't bring myself to do it. I'd feel like I was getting rid of my history...

I'm the same way. I have no room for my great-grandmother's tredle sewing machine, but something belonging to a GREAT-grandmother is pretty special. My daughters will have something of their GREAT-GREAT grandmother. If I have something from a great-great, I don't know it.

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net